Meet the multidisciplinary polymath who effortlessly weaves thought and feeling through beat and melody.
Air Hockey’s debut EP Runnerup is a six-track concept piece, hauling listeners along a journey through heart- break and healing.
Recorded between Australia and Aotearoa, and almost entirely self-produced, this record has taken form traversing the wide musical territory between energetic trap-beats and mournful ballads.
Fusing together glitched-out percussion with wailing synths and walls of layered vocals, this young artist finds his producer-inspirations in the likes of James Blake and River Tiber, while seeking continually to unearth his own sound.
While meticulously crafted, Runnerup is built on a messy bed of emotion, and the artist hopes to relay this with vulnerability and authenticity. Written in two parts, Runnerup dives into the themes of unrequited love and self-doubt in ‘Better’, ‘You Never Call’, and the title track; clawing its way back to hope through the optimistic sonic interjections of ‘Tomorrow’, ‘Marina’, and ‘Try’. Although the love-adjacent subject matter is prominent, the artist describes this release as being primarily about “celebrating the death of old and unhealthy beliefs, and the forming of new, more truthful ones”
The lead single Better will be released digitally on November 2, along with a music video by friend and director Brooke Benton. The second single will drop November 9.
Air Hockey looks forward to releasing the remainder of his debut EP with Australian-based label Sunset Revelry on November 16, and is busy curating a compelling live set.
Air Hockey is a twenty-one-year-old producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, whipping up magic in his inner-city bedroom. With all ten fingers in many creative pies, he's already developed a keen sense of taste, and is not someone to half-ass anything - except maybe relaxing. A soulful crooner, and experimental producer, the young Wellingtonian is already brewing up a flavour of his own imagining. Keep your eyes and ears open, Air Hockey is an artist to watch out for in 2018.